Summers in California are marked by hands with deep purple liquid running along palm lines and in between the fingers, dripping off the sides and trailing down the wrists, tiny brown hairs stuck to fingers and palms. Every time I look at a pair of […]

Where I grew up on Vancouver Island, coming across a Hairy manzanita (Arctostaphylos columbiana) could tell you something about the history of that particular place. It could tell you, for example, that there was probably a wildfire there in recent decades (or centuries, depending on […]

  Two planes. Dad stands on the ladder, I’m lying on my back. His hedge trimmer makes straight lines in the foliage. Meanwhile, my brain is trying to absorb infinity: “ Dad what’s at the edge of the universe?” The hedge-trimmer stops. He looks up at […]

Click on the audio file above to listen to Maria read her story.   “Nonna, why do you love flowers so much?”  A question that my grandson asked me one beautiful Spring day.  I smiled at him “honey the garden gives me peace.”  I have […]